


RGWP: The Pale Fever

by postal_ech



Category: Half-Life, The Walking Dead (Telltale Video Game)
Genre: A crossover no one asked for, Crossover, Gen, Minor Sci-Fi Elements, One-Shot, What-If
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-29
Updated: 2018-01-29
Packaged: 2019-03-11 05:00:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,091
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13517091
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/postal_ech/pseuds/postal_ech
Summary: A one-shot what-if scenario involving various ideas and concepts from The Walking Dead and the Half-Life Beta, based on "The Right Girl in the Wrong Place", a Half-Life/Walking Dead CrossoverWhen Clementine falls ill out of unknown circumstances, Luke and Carlos attempt to find a way to get her back into good health.At least, until a one-legged old man comes walking onto their property





	RGWP: The Pale Fever

**Author's Note:**

> Eheeeey it's yo boy, Postal, back from the dead after a month of jack-shit
> 
> Now for those who've been following me, I know it's been a literal month since I updated RGWP, But I assure you all, it's still alive and going...  
> It's just that work, college, and procrastination (alongside issues involving lack of motivation here and there) is kinda slowing down development.  
> Still no date as to when it will be released, but I still got progress going on it.
> 
> as for those just joining in to read this, yeah I got nothing besides: Welcome to a series of Crossovers that no one asked for whatsoever, enjoy the ride into and out of this bloody story.
> 
> Anyways, hope you all enjoy!

“ _...Well? Is she bitten?”_

_“...No, not that I know of, but…”_

_“But what? What the hell is wrong with her!?”_

_“You...might want to see for yourself.”_

 

Clementine laid shuddering in her bed, drenched in a cold sweat and a cool rag set against her forehead. She breathed weakly and heavily as Luke and Carlos observed her, her skin pale as the sheets that covered her sickly body, and her eyes firmly kept shut by will alone.

“...You think it has to do with that bite? From the dog, I mean…” Luke asks hesitantly as he looked onto Clementine, her sickly visage starting to bear down on him mentally. Quietly, Carlos shakes his head, motioning to the aforementioned bite.

“Something like this doesn’t happen a day after an animal attack...only happens two or three days were it left untreated, not a full day…”

“So what the hell does that mean?!” Luke asked once again, barely able to hold back his frustration in spite of everything so far, and calmed only by Clementine’s audible, quivering moan. With a small sigh of defeat, Carlos shakes his head.

“...I don’t know...perhaps...the animal was infected?”

“That’s bullshit.” Luke states curtly. “You know as well as I do that only people turn into Lurkers when they’re bit by Lurkers, not animals. That...stuff...can’t be transmitted by things like deer or...or dogs, or anything of that sort…” He then turns his attention back onto Clementine, muttering a swear under his breath as her condition seemed to only worsen.

“...I’m not sure, Luke.” Says Carlos, flashing Clementine a look of remorse and defeat. “...I’ve tried the best I can do for her...the only thing we can do now is...well...wait to see if it passes.”

“Really? That’s all we can do, just ‘hope’ for her to get better?” Luke quietly raises his voice.

“Luke, I can't just magically bring her back to good health!” Carlos snaps back. “Were I able to have the tools and medicine provided to me at a hospital...I could probably do more for her, but we don’t have that luxury anymore. We’ll ju-”

“HEY! HOLD IT RIGHT THERE, ASSHOLE! FREEZE!” The two hear just outside of the cabin. Luke and Carlos would look at one another for a moment, just as the yelling begins once again, convincing them that this wasn’t a drill. Quickly they rush down the stairs and out the door, only to see Nick holding an elderly, one-legged man up with his rifle.

“I said back the fuck up, old man!” Nick yells, training the rifle towards the man’s chest.

“Look, I don’t mean any trouble!” The Old Man yells back, keeping his hands raised at head level. “I’m just passin’ through here! Been needing directions, I swear I ain't here to cause harm!”

With that said, Luke would quickly approach Nick from behind, forcefully grabbing the barrel of the Rifle and pulling it down to the ground.

“Nick, what the hell are you doing?!” He yells, motioning back to the cabin. “What, you’re gonna try to shoot an old man, too?!”

“He was heading straight for the shed!” Nick yells back in defense. “Look, the kid I admit, I fucked up there, but this guy? Who the hell thinks a one-legged old man  wandering around is just a normal thing to happen here!?”

“Yeah well threatening to blow their god damn heads off isn’t the best thing to do either!” Luke yells back, focusing his attention back onto the one-legged man himself.

“...L-Look, I’m sorry about my friend here, he’s just on edge. We all are.”

“Ah it’s fine...I understand.” The old man replies with a small, albeit nervous smile. “It’s not everyday you see a one-legged stranger wandering through the woods. I’d do the same thing in his footsteps, if I was livin’ here.”

Once things settled down, Carlos would push himself forward in front of Luke and Nick, just as the other cabin survivors were making their way out, confused and wary of the commotion going on.

“...Who are you, exactly?” What’re you doing out in the middle of...well, here?”

“Ah...The name’s Eli Maxwell. I’m a...uh...a researcher. Was trying to get my way out east, towards a small enclave...and...well, happened to got myself lost out here. Was hoping one of y’all may have some directions.”

After a long, rather awkward silence fills the air between Maxwell and the Cabin Survivors, Carlos mutters quietly to Luke.

“I don't buy his story. Not a bit.”

Luke nods, and focuses his attention back onto the older gentleman in front of him.

“...And, uh, where exactly are ya heading?”

“I think the name of the place is…’riverside’? I know it's somewhere downstream but...well, trying to find a way around the river here is a bit hard with those dead folk tailin’ me.”

“Listen here, Mister Maxwell.” Pete raises his voice above the others, now taking his own turn stepping forward. “Wherever ya headin’ I don't think it's the best idea as of right now. We’ve got...uh...well, some unsavory folk running about around here, and I think It’d be best to get some ’background information’ on ya.”

Another tense silence fills the air between the group and Eli Maxwell, only being broken by Sarah’s own voice, echoing from the cabin.

“...Dad?! Dad, where are you?!”

“What is it?!” Carlos yells back, turning around just in time to see Sarah quickly open the door.

“Dad, it's that new girl...she’s...she’s rolling a lot in her bed…”

Almost as soon as Sarah finished her sentence, Luke quickly makes his way into the cabin, carefully slipping past the girl as he rushed upstairs, straight into Clementine’s room. Carlos, in turn, looks back at Maxwell.

“Listen, whoever you are...you’re a guest here, and that means you follow our rules. We already have enough on our plates to deal with, so you cause any trouble…”

“I understand, sir...but uh...if ya mind me askin’.”

“What? What is it?”

This ‘new girl’, she sick or something?”

“That's none of your business, old timer.” Says Nick in a harsh tone, reprimanded only by his Uncle’s stern expression.

“Look, we just got a sick girl we're tending to. While we appreciate the concern, it's nothing you need to worry about.”

“I see…” Maxwell clears his throat soon afterwards, and points to the entrance.

“Well...may I come inside?”

 

A few hours had passed since the encounter with Eli Maxwell, and since then Clementine’s condition seemed to have only worsened. All the while Luke kept himself close to her bed, watching as she shuddered under her sheets, sweat glossing her forehead and breaths ragged and weak.

“Come on, kiddo...you gotta pull through…” Luke muttered as he wiped the sweat off of Clementine, replacing her old, warm rag with a cool one. As he continued to monitor the sick little girl, he hears a soft knock on the door, assuming it to be either Alvin or Sarah.

“Door’s open.”

Slowly, Eli Maxwell would open the door, entering quietly and respectfully as he closed the door behind him.

“Hope I’m not interruptin’ anything, here.” whispered Eli, as he sat himself down next to Luke.

“Uh...nah, you're not bein’ a bother.” says Luke as he soaked the Old rag into a bucket of cool water. “Though, I gotta ask: The others don't have a problem with you up here?”

“I convinced ‘em that I only wanted to gauge how bad this disease is...and maybe get that possibility of getting to know the few friendly faces around here.”

“Surprised to hear that…” Luke then sets the new rag onto the edge of Clementine’s bed, rubbing his forehead in distress.

“...So when did this all start, if I can ask?” Maxwell asks, noticing Luke’s stressed attitude.

“Shit, man, I don't even know. She started looking bad yesterday, after gettin’ back from the river...but even then, she just looked like she had a cold or...or a minor case of the flu, ya know? This morning she couldn't even stand, man...now she’s just like this…”

“Mmm…” Maxwell hums, looking over at Clementine once again. He seems to almost scan her, noting her pale complexion and her rather high fever.

“Have you checked entire body? To see if anything was latched on it?”

“...What? Okay, look, no offense, but what the hell are you saying here?” Luke asked, voice raised slightly in agitation.

“No no, I'm not meaning anything bad by it. I’m just askin’ here if you had the chance to identify anything abnormal.”

“I mean...no, we never gave her some sort of full-body examination here...why, what is it that you're suggesting here?”

“...Well…” Maxwell hesitates for a moment “...something tells me I've seen this somewhere, back in the day.”

Soon enough, Maxwell stands himself up and steps over to the right side of Clementine’s bed. As he was about to gently roll her over to her side, he looks back over to Luke, who would be eyeing him suspiciously.

“May I?

“...So long as you don't pull any weird shit, then yeah.”

“Well, in that case, help me out here.”

With a firm nod, Luke would walk over to Maxwell’s side and carefully picks Clementine up, rolling her onto her side with Maxwell’s help, her back now facing the two of them. Once she was in an optimal position, the two would notice a large, oval-shaped bulge protruding under her shirt, placed just below her left shoulder blade. Concerned, Luke turns back to Maxwell.

“...That’s new…” he mutters. “We...didn't notice that bump there when she first got sick...wondering if its been there this whole time…”

“We’re about to find out.” Maxwell states in a stern manner. Soon afterwards the Old man would carefully lift the back of Clementine’s shirt upwards.

What they see next sends Luke retching

“What on God’s Green Earth is that fucking thing?!”

Sitting just below Clementine’s shoulder blade was a large, brown insect-like creature the size of a fist, it's jaws clamping down into her skin. It had a small, white tail leading out from it's rear, similar to that of a fin consisting of small, tendril-like legs. It's hind legs would be anchored into her lower side, with two, dark-green sac-like appendages looking as if they were about to burst. It's back consisted entirely of a hard, almost artificial-looking chitin, with a strange yellow symbol marking it in some alien language. The two sit there out of horrified shock, until Maxwell finally speaks up, stuttering a bit as he attempted to find the words to explain the ugly-looking creature latched onto Clementine.

“That…” Maxwell pauses a bit, taking in a bit of air in between his statement, as if the surprise of this creature took the air out of him.

“...That-That is a Sacktick…”

“...A Sack-what?!” Luke yells, obviously both disgusted and horrified at how big it was.

“A Sack-tick. Synthetic Parasite...damn thing’s been poisoning her for a while it seems…”

“...Wait, what?! Jesus Christ, we need to get that thing off of her, now!”

As Luke was about to take a hold of the large synthetic insect, he felt his arm being pulled back harshly by Maxwell, almost as if by instinct.

“The hell are you doing?!” Luke yells as he rips his arm out of Maxwell’s grasp.

“I should be askin’ ya the same damn thing!” Maxwell shoots back, quickly motioning to the girl.

“You ever took a god damn tick off of someone before?!”

“Yes! This isn't a tick though, it's a...a fucking monster or something!”

“Well think of it like that then! Only thing you'll do is make it worse if you just try to pull it off!”

“Then what the fuck are we supposed to do, let it leave her like this?!”

“Of course not! Do we-”

Before Maxwell could even ask, Carlos comes bursting through the door, hands clenched into fists.

“I thought I told you not to-” He then notices the large, alien parasite latched onto Clementine's back, and yells out of shock and horror.

“Mother of Christ-” He quickly cuts himself off, noting the fact that people could very well be listening downstairs. In a swift motion, he closes and locks the door behind him, turning back to Maxwell, Luke, and Clementine.

“What...what IS that thing on her?!” Carlos quietly yells, trying his best to keep his composure in front of the two.”

“...Like I said it's...it’s a Sacktick. Parasite that incapacitated their victims with a-a poison, a toxin of sorts.” Maxwell stutters as he tries to keep himself from panicking, with Luke pacing the room back and forth from one end to the other, trying to come up with a solution to their growing problem.

“O-okay, so what the hell do we do? Do we burn it, get a lighter and just...light the damn thing on fire?!”

“Boy, no offence, but take one good look at that thing and tell me if it can burn through that...chitin…” Maxwell responds.

“Then what the hell do we do?!” Luke finally yells, seemingly losing his cool in the process.

“Uh….Well…” Maxwell rubs his forehead a bit, looking over to Carlos soon afterwards.

“Do we have any ice? Or cold water?”

“We...we have some somewhere, stored away for refrigeration.” Carlos answers. “Why? What are you planning?”

“Well, if I remember correctly….a few people I knew once had this same situation on their hands.” Maxwell then motions to the Sacktick still attached to Clementine’s back, keeping itself still in its position. “They figured that, since they couldn't burn it off, they had to freeze it off. Turns out these things have a low tolerance to cold temperatures, as submerging it in an ice bath killed it within an hour or so. Wasn't easy, of course...but it got the job done.”

Carlos remains silent for a moment, once again looking over at Clementine as she laid unconscious in her bed, sweat glistening off of her forehead and exposed back. A moment of silence soon follows, broken only by Maxwell’s nervous statement.

“...Uh...if ya don't mind me saying...the longer we wait on this stuff, the less time we have in saving this little girl’s life, sir…”

“Just...who are you, really?” Carlos finally ask, to which Luke responds with a surprising amount of agitation.

“Alright, look, does that really matter right now man?! We got a dying girl here and this guy told us how to get rid of that...thing...killin’ her! Come on let's just...get this damn thing over with!”

After a stressed response from Carlos, he finally gives the two a silent nod of approval, motioning to the door.

“I’ll go get whatever ice we have in storage. You two undress her, and get her into the bath. It should be across the hall, on your right.”

“Woah woah, wait, hold up, we're undressin’ her?” Luke asks, now seeming to look uncomfortable, at best.

“You want to drench her in those clothes?”

“Well no, but...can't we just, I don't know, wrap her up in a towel or something? It's just...feels weird, I don't know.”

“...Look, if you feel so uncomfortable undressing her, then do us a favor and make sure no one else interferes. I don't want Sarah to walk in and see this...abomination...latched onto the girl’s back.”

“That's, uh...yeah that's something I can do.”

“Then let's get this thing over with. Quickly.” Maxwell responds, and the two silently nod in agreement

 

Within a few Minutes, Luke and Carlos carried Clementine into the bathroom, setting her down into the tub carefully, making sure that the Sacktick latched onto her wasn't disturbed in the process. As Carlos began to prep the girl for the ice bath, Luke would be the one to gather what ice they had in storage, all the while Maxwell kept guard just outside of the bathroom, making sure no one accidentally (or purposefully) wandered on inside. Once Luke returned with as much ice as he could gather, he hands it over to Maxwell, and exchanges positions with him.

“Right just...you best make sure this shit works, alright? If it turns out to only make things worse.”

“I swear to ya, it’ll work.” Maxwell reassures Luke confidently, before disappearing into the bathroom. He then sets down the ice next to Carlos, letting out a small sigh.

“Good, this should just be enough.”

Carlos responds. “Now...when they did this, did your…’friends’...happen to have any trouble during this whole process?”

“Well…” Maxwell hesitates to answer, looking over to Clementine once again. “As soon as the person was submerged...they did their damndest to try and get out. Later learned that Sackticks react adversely to any temperature colder than zero degrees Centigrade...as in, it causes the victim an extreme amount of pain the colder it gets.”

“Great…” Carlos mutters. “...I'll hold her down. You just pour the ice into the bath.”

“Can do.” Maxwell responds, grabbing what ice he can hold in the process.

Soon enough he begins to slowly pour the ice into the bath, mainly around Clementine’s backside, all while Carlos holds her down - reluctantly, at first. As they began to slowly submerge her body in ice, Carlos begins to speak to Maxwell, mainly to kill the tension that hung in the air.

“So...these symptoms...are they a part of this toxin?”

“Eeeeh...yeah, you can think of it like that. The more of this Sacktick toxin you got flowin’ through your veins, the worse you get - may lead to drowsiness, weakened muscle movement, irritability...occasionally nausea and vomiting at the worse-case scenario. As more and more of this toxin enters the bloodstream, through, you start to get symptoms similar to a flu - Fever, chills, shakes, nausea, a rise in body temperature, and pale skin. It’s what the locals used to call...блюдо треск, roughly translates to ‘The Pale Fever.’”

“Pale Fever...hmm…” Carlos mused over the information for only a moment, before Maxwell began to pour more ice into the bath tub.

By the time everything but her head was submerged in ice, she begins to stir.

That soon follows with her letting out pained yells in her unconscious state.

“Luke! Get in here, now!” Carlos yells as he kept Clementine held in place. Within seconds of Carlos’ call, Luke quickly enters the bathroom, closing and locking the door behind him.

“What!? What is it?!”

“Get over here and help me hold her down!”

“Are you serious!?”

“NOW!!!”

Almost immediately, perhaps startled by Carlos’ response or simply out of fear of having the girl die in front of him, Luke would move in right next to the doctor, holding down Clementine as best as he could. Soon enough she begins to scream and thrash in the tub, throwing ice all over the bathroom in an attempt to climb out. Eventually even Maxwell would have to hold her down, as the two adults had trouble trying to keep her still. As time crawled onwards and they kept her in the ice bath, they see something disturbing the ice nearest to Clementine.

And then they see the head of the Sacktick emerge slowly from underneath the ice.

Quickly, Maxwell would dive his hand into the ice, grabbing the Sacktick within and submerging it as deep as he could. He felt it squirming and writhing as he kept it in place, his own hand slowly losing feeling as time went on. Eventually, Carlos and Luke would notice his behavior.

“What is it, what are you doing?!”

“Damn Sacktick is trying to get outta the ice! Someone get the girl outta the bath, I'll try and keep the damn thing from getting out!”

With that said, Luke and Carlos would do exactly as told, quickly pulling Clementine out of the ice bath. Once they brought her back into the bedroom, Maxwell word finally feel the Sacktick’s movements come to a halt, it's screeching and writhing following with it. Pulling it out from the ice bath, he would see it starting to ooze blood from its mouth - a mixture of both its own blood, and Clementine's own blood, forming a sickly light-yellowish-brown color as the sacks underneath it's hind legs slowly deflated. With a genuine sigh of relief, he tosses the carcass of the Sacktick on to the surface of the ice bath, leaving it there as he made his way out of the bathroom.

Once he returned to the bedroom, he would see Carlos and Luke dressing her appropriately, having dried her off after the event with the Sacktick. As they laid her back into the bed, the two of them turn to one another, Maxwell included.

”Well...her condition has stabilized, so far…” Says Carlos quietly, looking over to Clementine once again as she slept soundly in the bed.

“...That means she's getting better...right?”

“Well, if what Maxwell told us here is correct, it will take a full twenty-four hours until her body has completely detoxified itself, maybe even more...depending in how much of this toxin is in her bloodstream. Until then she's to be kept hydrated and fed...at least, until she's conscious again.”

“Thank Christ…” Luke mutters softly, turning his attention to Maxwell.

“Listen...Eli, was it? Uh...thanks for your help back there. Were it not for you, she...probably wouldn't be he right now.”

“It's not problem.” Maxwell states reassuringly. “Always happy to help out my fellow man in their time of need.”

“That's good to hear.” says Carlos, sitting himself down at the edge of Clementine’s bed. “...So...what will you do now?”

“Well...properly dispose of that Sacktick, for one...then...well, I guess I'll rest up here for a bit, at least, gather my bearings and find some directions to Riverside.”

“So...this ‘Riverside’ you keep mentioning...is it a settlement? Some sort of safe area?”

“...I can't really say much. All I can say is that it's got people there, people I know, and it's got plenty of supplies for what I need.”

“I see…” Carlos then begins to think on what Maxwell told him, considering his options between the Cabin, this so-called ‘Riverside’, and Wellington far to the north. All that while Luke would pick up on the questioning.

“Why the secrecy? I mean, especially now outta the times when Lurkers are walking about trying to eat your damn face off.”

“It's...it's complicated. All I can say is that not everyone wants their spot to be known...seeing as how there may be a lot of unsavory folk tryin’ to find them.”

“Right…” Now it was Luke's turn to think inwardly for a moment, that is, until he's quickly ripped out if his train of thought before he could even start.

“...Listen, if you want...y’all are more than welcome to come along, seeing as how the dead here are few and far between downstream...at least, that's what I was told on the way here. Issue is: We can't stay tonight, even if the girl here is incapacitated. It's now or never...so I'll leave ya at that.”

And with that, Maxwell stands himself up, careful not to fall over on his wooden leg as he did so, and looks over towards Clementine for a moment. Despite her condition seeming to have been stabilised, she still looked as if she was suffering the flu, making a mental note that she probably wouldn't be able to move much, if at all…

That's when he would be surprised by Carlos’ sudden answer.

“We’ll get everyone ready to move out by nightfall.”

“You sure about this?” Maxwell asks, a hint of concern seeping into his voice. “I mean...what about that girl of yours? Will she even be able to move in her state?”

“...Damnit, you're right…” Carlos admits, sighing a bit.

“...Tell ya what, I'll give ya a day and a half to think on it, when you say that girl should get better. Until then, it's best ya don't mention this to many folk…”

“Of course.” Says Carlos once again. “And uh...thank you again for your help. We owe you.”

“You don't owe me anything, sir. Just happy to help.”

_Quietly, Eli Maxwell would step out from the room, leaving Carlos and Luke to discuss what to do next privately._


End file.
